The National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) hosted the first ever “Top Tech” competition to crown the best fire sprinkler system layout technicians at its 2007 Annual Seminar & Exhibition on May 4. Team Florida won the competition. Rudd Milam, Ray Vance, Ricardo Vasquez, and Gene Grant of Team Florida defeated Team Northeast (consisting of Brian Baima, Michael Mackey, and Marc Ruggiero) in the game show format competition.

“This competition was a great opportunity for fire sprinkler layout technicians throughout North America to showcase their skills and knowledge,” said John Viniello, president of NFSA. “It also proved to be an entertaining event for both the competitors and the crowd, while demonstrating the NFSA’s commitment to continued education throughout the industry. Congratulations to Team Florida on their victory.”

In order to qualify for the competition, contestants were required to take an open book exam on NFPA 13 (the National Fire Protection Association’s standard for the installation of fire sprinkler systems) at various locations around the country in January. These regions included Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Florida, North Central, Mid-West, South Central, Great Plains, Mountain and Southwest, West, Pacific Northwest, and Canada. The top scorers from each designated region joined together as a team consisting of three players, and in some cases one alternate.